Toto

(Antonio Clemente de Curtis, 1898–1967)

   Born in Naples (where else?), Toto (stage name) was the greatest Italian comedian of the 20th century. The illegitimate son of the Marquis Giuseppe de Curtis and Anna Clemente, Toto was a poet, wit, and actor in more than 100 films, most of them cheap and simple comedies. He began his career in avanspettacolo (quick sketch comedy, like vaudeville) but moved into stage comedy in the late 1920s and to films in 1937, with the movie Fermo con le mani (Keep Your Hands Still!). At the height of his fame, in the 1950s, he was ubiquitous. In one four-year period (1953–1956), he managed to star in 21 separate films. His costars included a young Sofia Loren (in Tempi Nostri, 1954) and Marcello Mastroianni (in I soliti ignoti, 1958), and he was directed by Vittorio De Sica, Alessandro Blasetti, and Mario Monicelli, among others. He gave an inspired performance in a serious role in Pierpaolo Pasolini’s Uccellacci e Uccellini (Hawks and Sparrows, 1966). Toto continued making films until he died, although he himself was convinced that only a handful of his films would survive. His catchphrases became part of everyday colloquial language, as did his dry, Groucho-like humor (“he was so unpleasant a man that when he died his relatives called for an encore”). Toto once said that you could always recognize a Neapolitan by his ability to live without a single lira, but he was himself generous in using his money to help young actors. In his movies, but also in life, he enjoyed guying the aristocracy. In 1946, he changed his name by deed poll to a parody of an aristocratic name, replete with the most fantastic titles. He died in Rome in April 1967.

   See also Cinema.